What’s the hardest thing for foreigners when learning Thai? … What about Chinese? Indonesian and other languages? พูดภาษาอังกฤษทำไมถึงลิ้นแข็ง? Do Thais really have ‘stiff tongue’ ลิ้น แข็ง when they speak in English? Is ‘Dreaming in a Language’ really a sign of ‘arriving’ in that language? In this Episode of Talking Thailand with Khun Pleum (M.L. Nattakorn Devakula), Grace Robinson and Adam Bradshaw interview Polyglot Stuart Jay Raj. Languages that Stuart or ‘Jay’ use during the interview include English, Thai, Indonesian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Danish and Spanish. You can read a full transcript of the interview here – http://stujay.com/2014/05/05/tv-interview-polyglot-stuart-jay-raj-talks-about-language-learning-and-careers/ Stuart or Khun ‘Jay’ talks about how to best approach learning languages like Thai and Chinese and talks about techniques that can help foreign learners overcome obstacles like tones and grammar. He also talks about what he sees as the top challenges that foreigners face learning Thai, as well as challenges that Thais face when learning English and other foreign languages. The interview is Bilingual (about 80% English), with English subtitles for the whole interview. To watch the full original episode, you can view it on VoiceTV’s site at: http://shows.voicetv.co.th/talking-thailand/104667.html or Watch the full episode on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wTitEs0eN8 You can follow Stuart Raj and Jcademy on Twitter at: @JcademyOnline or Facebook at : http://facebook.com/jcademy To tweet about the show, use hashtag #TalkingThailand and #Jcademy

Stuart Jay Raj is a polyglot who specializes in the languages and dialects spoken in South East Asia and China. His talents have allowed him to earn a professional living as a simultaneous interpreter in Thai, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Indonesian, among others, providing language and cultural training for multinational companies in the region and hosting his own TV programme on Thailand's Channel 5. He holds a degree in Cognitive and Applied Linguistics from Griffith University and has become an expert in the field of language acquisition with a strong track record of success. Stuart's background knowledge of Sanskrit, Khmer, Lao and various Chinese dialects and minority languages enables him to present a fascinating and unique perspective on the Thai language which makes everything fall logically into place.

Who is Stuart Jay Raj?

Stuart Jay Raj is a polyglot who specializes in the languages and dialects spoken in South East Asia and China. His talents have allowed him to earn a professional living as a simultaneous interpreter in Thai, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Indonesian, among others, providing language and cultural training for multinational companies in the region and hosting his own TV programme on Thailand's Channel 5. He holds a degree in Cognitive and Applied Linguistics from Griffith University and has become an expert in the field of language acquisition with a strong track record of success. Stuart's background knowledge of Sanskrit, Khmer, Lao and various Chinese dialects and minority languages enables him to present a fascinating and unique perspective on the Thai language which makes everything fall logically into place.